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Ups And Downs: Summer, Chronic Illness, and a New Normal
Hello friends, I’m so excited to be able to join A Chronic Voice’s link up this month. Summer is finally here, but unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a vacation from chronic illness. So I’m going to share what I’ve found helpful and how I’m coping with the new normal.
This link up is a way for chronic illness bloggers to connect by writing posts based on the same prompts. I found it so helpful last month to use the prompts as a jumping off point to not only write a blog post, but also to do some journaling for myself to process everything going on in the world and my own life.
This month, I’m using the prompts to share a little bit about what I’ve been up to lately creatively, what I’ve been struggling with healthwise, and how I’m continuing to adjust to the new normal.
The prompts for this month are Bothering, Demanding, Telecommunicating, Tolerating, and Nourishing.
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Mid-Year Reflections In A Year Of Pandemic: June Linkup
I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I joined A Chronic Voice’s linkup for the first time! I’ve been meaning to join this way for chronic illness bloggers to connect since, but life intervened (aka symptoms have severely limited my writing time). This month, I was thrilled that not only did I have the mental bandwidth to participate, but also that the prompts aligned with several things bouncing around in my head. Chronic illness in a pandemic presents its own unique challenges. (PS here’s my last linkup post.)
I hope you all are doing as well as you can be. Those of you who love the sunshine, I hope that you are also enjoying the warmer days. I love that the weather will be warmer (in upper 60s or 70s) for about three days, and then rainy for two days—this gives me a good dose of vitamin D when I can sit and walk a little outside.
The rain gives me a break from feeling like I *have* to get outside; we call that pressure to soak up as much warmth as we can “sun guilt” in the Pacific Northwest. The cottonwood trees had the air filled with tufts of white that looked like slow-drifting snow up until recently. Everything is blooming early, including my beauty bush, which is covered in bees and hummingbirds. (Ok, I’ve seen THREE hummers at once, so not exactly “covered!”)
In the world beyond my yard, things are moving ahead as Washington counties move into Phase 2 of coming out of quarantine/social distancing. (My county was added to the list June 5.) High risk populations are to “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” through Phase 3. I’ll talk more about this below.
Let’s dive in. The themes for this month are Searching, Hoping, Honoring, Traumatizing, and Responding.
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Create a Laughter as Medicine Kit
This post is all about ideas for adding more laughter to your life!
While laughter may or may not be the best medicine, it sure can make a difference.
I’ve been compiling a list of things that make me laugh, and it’s turned into a kind of first aid kit for making me feel better. Being intentional about cultivating joy and laughter has been even more important to me since I’ve been dealing with multiple chronic illnesses as well as chronic pain. Maybe you’re dealing with similar health challenges, or just looking for tips to improve your wellbeing. So I’m going to share ideas with you so you can make your own customized laughter kit!
Having a list of funny resources has been helpful because my brain is often fried due to chronic illness (hellooooo brain fog!). Instead of having to hunt around when I need a pick me up, I can use my kit as a jumping off point. (I printed my list off, but you can save it to your phone or wherever makes sense for you.)
Oftentimes, when I need a pick-me-up, my brain is too fried to think “Oh, I should watch or read such-and-such, that always makes me feel happier!” So, that’s why I’m making this list, so I know what tools I have in my laughter-as-medicine kit.
Before we dive into making a laughter-as-medicine kit…how exactly does laughter help?
I think we all know that laughter is a good thing, especially if you’re dealing with chronic illnesses, but did you know it can physically make a difference?
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To the Christian Who Feels Sad at Christmastime—Here’s What’s Helping Me
We’re getting real on the blog today.
I want talk about struggling with feelings of sadness around Christmas, something that can impact anyone, not only those of us with chronic illness.
In a way, this feels a bit like a taboo subject. I kind of worry about admitting to this struggle out of fear that people will think I’m not grateful for all Christmas represents (it is Jesus’ birthday after all!) or that my sadness means I somehow dislike Christmas (which certainly is not the case!)
I’ve struggled over the past several holiday seasons, and a lot of it has had to do with getting used to my limitations due to chronic illness. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, so in addition to struggling with not feeling happy, I’m also struggling with not feeling quite like myself. My love for Christmas is a part of who I am, so this sadness is yet another way my chronic illnesses impact my identity.
And I think as Christians we can sometimes feel pressure to feel or act happy 24/7, so feeling sad this time of year adds another layer of complexity—I feel guilty about it!
